In the End, It Was Worth the Wait
by VanillaSlut
Summary: Eridan has been crushing on his geeky friend, Sollux Captor, for some time now. Unfortunately, they have a rather complicated relationship since they switch from friends to enemies on a daily basis. Unsure of what to do about his feelings, Eridan decides to confide in his friend, Feferi, about his troubles. Will he be able to admit his feelings to Sollux? Or will he chicken out?


It was another slow day at the Surf N' Turf. Feferi let out an audible sigh as she bounced around on the tall wooden stool behind the counter, hoping something exciting would happen to help brighten up the dull mood of the small store. The ring of the bell that hung from the door made her perk up Finally! Another customer. With a big smile on her face she greeted the visitor and was greeted in return with the smooth familiar voice of her friend, Eridan Ampora.

"hey fef" Said the short boy in a sad voice as he made his way to the counter.

"-Eridan? W)(at's going on? You almost never visit me at work."

A small sigh escaped his lips as he leaned on the counter. He was dressed in his usual dark (and rather tight) jeans, a plain t-shirt, black converse, and had his purple striped scarf wrapped around his neck. (He always wore that scarf. Feferi could swear it was pretty much a permanent part of his body at this point.) He ran a hand through his neatly styled dark locks and took a few seconds to fiddle around with the purple streak he had in the front,

"nothing really just thought id come see wwhat you wwere up to since i wwas dowwn here anywway"

Yeah, right. Feferi knew him better than that. He was hiding something and she wasn't going to be shy about prying the information out of him.

"Spill it." She said in a soft, firm tone leaning in close.

Eridan knew she wasn't going to give in until she got what she wanted.

He chewed his lip for a moment before finally answering,

"its sol" he released another loud sigh.

"I s)(ould've known."

She seemed a little disappointed, but what was she expecting? Some huge secret? Some sweet, juicy gossip? Yeah right. She returned to her upright position and started to play with her long, dark, curly locks.

"W) (appened now?" Those two were always at each others' throats. One day they were friends, the next, enemies. You just never knew with those two. If he can to chat with her about another fight they had gotten into, she really wasn't all

that interested.

Looking back to her friend, however, he seemed to be fidgeting an awful lot. Nervous much? Perhaps it wasn't another fight?

"wwell i spent the night at his place last night and wwell wwe got a little drunk actually i got a little drunk sol howwevver got totally wwasted then wwe wwere talking and joking and he just maybe kind of kissed me like he just leaned in a totally owwned my mouth and then he stuck his tongue in and-"

"W)(OA! W)(OA! I don't need to know anymore. Nope! Don't need details about you banging my ex-boyfriend." She cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth.

His eyes widened in fear,

"oh my god fef! wwe did not havve sex!"

An awkward silence filled the room. Outside, the beach-goers could be heard splashing around and having a grand old time. With only a month of Summer left, now was the time to get out there and ride a wave or two and get whatever sun you could on your skin. With a loud screech of the stool, Feferi stood up and walked over to the other side of the counter and put a hand on Eridan's shoulder.

"So... W)(at are you going to do?"

A small frown spread across the boys' face as he looked over to his friend,

"you knoww howw i feel about him"

Oh yes. She sure did know how Eridan felt about their skinny, geeky friend. He had been crushing on Sollux for four months now. Of course, only Feferi knew that. Feferi and their other little friend, Nepeta, knew almost everything about everyone.

Giving his shoulder a small, comforting squeeze, she asked,

"Are you going to tell )(im?"

Eridan gave her a face that said, 'You really think I'm going to tell him something like that?' before turning his attention to the floor.

"You can't )(ide it from )(im forever. )(e's not dumb you know. )(e'll figure it out sooner or later." She gave him a light pat on the back and returned to her spot behind the counter.

"he wwas totally wwasted i doubt he remembers anything" Eridan mumbled in a rather irrittated tone.

"You don't know t)(at." Feferi said as she heard the bell ring again, signaling another customer had entered the shop.

"W)(y don't you go talk to )(im?" She added before rushing over to greet the tanned, older lady that had entered the shop.

Waving goodbye and making his way out of the shop, Eridan walked in long, quick strides off the beach and back into the busy streets downtown. Weaving his way through the crowds, he changed his pace to a light jog. His mind was racing and he only had one goal in mind as he foudn himself in front of the all-to-familiar, old brick apartment building where Sollux lived. Taking the stairs in twos, Eridan made his way to the third floor within minutes and paused in front of a rather ugly, yellow door. He tool and deep breath and a moment to try and compose himself (and failed)before giving the door a few light taps. To be honest, Eridan didn't really know what he was doing. What would he say? He came here without really thinking about anything except being here, with Sollux- he was completely unprepared. When Eridan got nervous, he tended to do things like rock back and forth on his heels, fidget around in a rather odd manner, avoid eye contact at all costs, and chew his fingernails. Well damn, he must of been nervous as hell because the nails on his left hand were all but dead by the time he knocked on the door again. This time- a lot louder. A few more minutes passed and Eridan still hadn't heard any signs of movement from behind the door. He knew Sollux was home. Sollux rarely ever left his apartment unless it was necessary. He spent all of his time in front of his computer screen or playing video games. So why wouldn't he answer the damn door? Eridan was about ready to kick the door in when he heard the soft click of a lock and the handle turned.

The door opened to reveal a very tired and very annoyed, Sollux Captor.

"mu2t you be 2o loud you a22?" The droopy boy asked running his long, boney fingers through his messy, short brown hair.

Eridan let out a nervous laugh,

"h-hey sol"

Leaning against the doorway, Sollux let out a yawn,

"what do you want, eriidan?"

"I need to talk to you." Why was it so hard to make contact with those... gorgeous... blue eyes, Eridan asked himself, just imagining those beautiful orbs eyeing him up made a shiver run down his spine. Wait.. what?! Where did that thought come from?! Get ahold of yourself man! Eridan shook the thought away, only to realize that Sollux had been talking to him while he was away in dreamland.

"...are you lii2teniing? eriidan?"

ww-wwhat?" Eridan finally managed to speak.

"what do you want?" Sollux was starting to get impatient. Not only that, the messy hair and dark circles under his eyes told Eridan that he had pulled another all-nighter. However, that was nothing new. As long as he had some pizza and red bull he could go two-three days without rest. Of course, these types of things usually triggered his headaches. If he wasn't careful, these headaches could get so bad that they would leave him bed-ridden for days. But of course, he did it anyways. Dumbass.

"can wwe talk inside" Eridan asked with a small smile.

Taking a moment to decide, Sollux finally gestured for him to come inside the dark apartment. It was messy as usual, but not as messy as Gamzee's place. (Did that guy ever here of dusting? How about vacuuming? Maybe even a trash can?! You know, that nice little receptacle you throw all the icky wrappers, bottles and packages when you're done with them? Obviously not since his floor seems to be where all that waste goes.)Eridan seated himself on the well-used,creaky couch while Sollux picked up a few things before plopping down next to a very nervous and oddly quiet Eridan.

"2o, what'2 up?"

Not really sure where how to begin, Eridan said the first thing he could think of,

"last night wwas fun wwasnt it?"

Wow. Good answer. Moron.

Sollux raised a brow at the sudden question but shrugged it off,

"yeah. that honey wiine you brought over wa2 really good."

Eridan's face brightened a little at that,

"i thought you might like it" What are you doing making small talk? Just spit it out already! Eridan glanced at the TV screen to distract himself. Sollux was playing some kind of fighting game that he didn't recognize. Gosh, Sollux was really good at those kinds of games. Good enough that he could totally enter a tournament a whoop everyone's ass. Bring home the gold. Oh look, your friend's trying to get your attention. Eridan returned his gaze to Sollux who didn't look very amused.

"what are you here for, eriidan?" Damn, he was getting impatient. Sollux was never one for small talk. He's more of a 'get to the point so we can move on and I can continue whatever I was doing before you came over here' kind of guy.

"i ummm just wwanted to tell you something that ivve been wwanting to tell you for a wwhile noww actually..." Spit it out, Eridan! Spit it out already!

"do you remember wwhat happened last night? i mean i knoww you wwere totally shit-faced but do you remember anything? anything at all?"

Sollux just looked at him. Seriously, for about a whole minute he just stared at him as if he was at a complete loss for words. When his brain started working again he finally replied with,

"2hiit. ii 2hould've known you'd briing iit up." and then proceeded to hide his face in his hands.

Eridan's jaw dropped. He honestly hadn't expected Sollux to remember anything. A small part of him had hoped he would, but he pushed that part away for fear of what would happen between them if he did. Eridan's stomach churned with a mix of fear and excitement as his brain decided it was a great time to replay the events of the night before.

While Eridan was trying to shake the images from his mind, Sollux unburied his face from his hands and let out a small sigh.

"ii'm 2orry."

Managing to finally push the rather vivid images to some little corner of his brain, Eridan turned his gaze to his feet before replying in soft voice,

"you wwere drunk and not thinking straight dont wworry about it"

The two boys sat together in a rather uncomfortable silence for what seemed like eternity, before Eridan decided to speak up,

"ill see you later sol" Readjusting his scarf, he sat up and made his way to the door. He thought it best to leave before he ended up blurting out something stupid, like confessing his feelings. He definitely wouldn't want that happening when things were already awkward enough between them. Besides, Sollux didn't seem to have anything else to say.

Making his way into the brightly lit hallway, Eridan was about to shut the door when a strong force pushed it back open. Sollux stood in the doorway with a very confused look on his face. What was going through that big brain of his anyways? He was also pretty sure Sollux had been on the couch (which is at least twenty feet from the door by the way) about three seconds ago. Who knew geek boy could move so fast?

Waiting a moment to see if his friend had anything to say, Eridan gave him a small wave before sauntering down the long hallway.

It took a lot of effort to keep himself from looking back. Taking slow, deep breaths, Eridan knew he had to keep himself calm. What he really wanted to do was run like a mad man right out of the building and not stop until he made it home. From there, he would proceed to cuddle up on the couch with his Scalemate plushie and devour the rest of the strawberry ice cream he had bought last week.

However, there was no way he was going to have a meltdown with Sollux watching him. No, siree. No running like a mad man until his feet were safely planted on the busy streets of downtown.

About halfway down the hall, Eridan felt a strong tug on the back of his scarf. He froze in his tracks and slowly turned to meet the gorgeous blue eyes of the one and only, Sollux Captor. What could he possibly want?

"why diidn't you 2ay iit?"

Raising a brow, Eridan made Sollux release grip on his scarf,

"sol?"

Grabbing the front of his shirt, Sollux shoved Eridan into the wall while a very unamused look spread across his face,

"don't play dumb wiith me, eriidan. you know what ii'm talkiing about."

Eridan knew he probably had one of the dumbest looks on his face as he tried to figure out what the hell Sollux was talking about. Did he know about his feelings for him? No way. Eridan was pretty confident that his friend was still unaware of the feelings that grew stronger each day.

Sollux let out something that sounded like a half growl/half sigh,

"I know, Eridan."

The short, dark-haired boys eyes widened as it finally hit him. He was wrong. So wrong. Sollux already knew about his feelings for him. But for how long had he known that? And just when he thought things couldn't get anymore awkward. Eridan wished he could just sink back into the wall and escape Sollux's grasp, but sadly, that's not how these things worked. He was going to have to man-up, (if that was even possible at this point) and face this situation head-on. He knew this day would come, but he never expected it to be so soon. (Yeah. So soon my ass. You've only been crushing on the guy for months now.)When he finally found his voice again and managed to somehow get his mouth to form words, Eridan asked,

"h-howw long havve you knowwn?" He mentally cursed himself for stuttering like a dumb, dumb. But what did he expect to sound like in a situation like this? To be all calm, cool and collected? Yeah, right. Not in this lifetime.

"a whiile."

Could you be a little more specific? That would be great. Eridan thought to himself, turning his attention to the empty hallway. He hate to admit such weakness, but if Sollux kept staring at him with that intense look, he was going to go insane. His heart was already beating at what felt like a thousand beats per minute and he was putting a lot concentration into keeping his breathing even. He knew had to get out of here, and fast.

As if he had read his thoughts, Sollux let go of Eridan's shirt and put his hands on the wall, trapping him between his arms.

"ii2 that why you diidn't re2ii2t me la2t niight." Oh. Well that was one question Eridan had been hoping to avoid at all costs. Let's see if his brain could come up with a good answer for that one. Yeah, he had nothing. Seeing as how he couldn't escape, he had two decisions: one- he could just tell him the truth. This option may or may not include him saying something along the lines of, ' I didn't resist you, because I actually just kind of really enjoying the way pushed me down onto your floor, ravished me with rough kisses, and shoved that skilled tongue of yours into my mouth without even asking for permission.' Yeah, that would probably (definitely) lead to total disaster. Or we have option two- where he stood there and said absolutely nothing. The latter seemed like a good choice for the situation, so Eridan just kept his gaze on the hallway to his right and kept his mouth shut.

This choice ,however, made Sollux very annoyed. Taking a hold of Eridan's chin, he forced his quiet friend to look at him.

"Answer me, Eridan."

Wow. He never would've thought a command from Sollux (of all people)in such a deep and husky tone could not only take his breath away, but cause a soft gasp to escape his lips and a shiver run down his spine. Eridan knew if he didn't find a way to escape or distract himself, he was going to end up planting one on Sollux's lips.

"i-i dont knoww..."

Was all he could say as he became preoccupied with staring at those lips that seemed to be taunting him.

For a split-second, a look of surprise crossed over Sollux's face before it was replaced with a rather teasing grin. Leaning in until there was only about half an inch between their lips, he watched as Eridan put his hands on his chest in a rather weak attempt to shove the other boy away and put some distance between them.

Taking a hold of the hands on his chest and pinning them up against the wall above his head, Sollux moved his lips over to Eridan's ear,

"we're both 2ober. 2o why aren't you re2ii2tiing me now, eriidan?"

A quiet whimper escaped his lips as he felt the smirk on Sollux's lips against his ear.

Nipping the trembling boys' sensitive earlobe, Sollux proceeded to put slow, teasing kisses down Eridan's neck and up to his lips where he stopped; hovering there. Watching his friend crumble right under him. He seemed to find Eridan rather cute looking all weak and vulnerable and he made it clear that he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Eridan, however, had just reached his breaking point when Sollux finally decided to connect their lips.

Letting the hands he held captive free, Sollux took a firm hold of Eridan's slim waist, grinding their hips together as he licked those full, sweet lips- begging for entrance. Eridan parted his lips and let their tongues wrestle for dominance. Sollux easily won the battle with his amazingly skillful tongue and explored every inch of Eridan's mouth; committing it to memory. Where did computer boy learn to kiss like this? Eridan didn't know, and at the moment, he didn't care. All that mattered right now was Sollux. All that mattered was the way those long, thin fingers made him shiver with every touch as they made their way under the thin fabric of Eridan's shirt.

Eridan could feel a bulge pressing against the inside of his thigh as Sollux kissed and nipped his way down and around his neck. Putting his arms around Sollux's neck, Eridan felt that he should tell his busy friend that they should probably get out of the hallway before going any further, but his voice was lost when Sollux bite down on his collarbone.

"s-sol!" Eridan cried out, clawing lightly at the others back.

"We should get back to the a-apartment." He gasped as Sollux busied himself covering his neck and chest in hickies.

Giving the hickey he had just finished a long, slow lick, Sollux looked up at Eridan with lust-filled eyes.

"yeah, we probably 2hould."

Eridan let out a yelp, as Sollux picked him up and carried him back to his apartment. (Ok. So not only was he an amazing kisser, but apparently he wasn't a weakling either. Eridan could gladly work with that.) It appeared Sollux had left the door opened a crack, because he kicked that sucker open, slammed it closed with his other foot, and went straight for the couch.

"i thought youd hate me" Eridan said as he was lowered onto the couch cushions.

"iif ii hated you, ii wouldn't have a ragiing boner for you riight now." Sollux replied, carefully climbing on top of Eridan.

A smile spread across Eridan's face as he pulled the other boy in for a long, passionate kiss. Had he known that this is what had awaited him, he would've confessed his feelings to Sollux long ago. But like they say, 'good things come in to those who wait.' and oh, it was definitely worth the wait.


End file.
